Don't Leave Me
by FlashFiction
Summary: Narcissa Malfoy has become very good at hiding things, things like emotions. But the love she has for her husband is something too strong to hide behind the mask she wears. With Lucius in Azkaban, how can Narcissa face the days ahead?


**DISCLAIMER: **I do not, nor will I ever own Harry Potter. I am merely an admirer of the magical world that J.K.R has created. The world that she has kindly let people, like myself, play around in.

The wind howled, crashing into the walls of the stone structure that towered against the grey sky. The sea threw itself against the jagged rocks, shattering like diamonds on impact. Narcissa Malfoy brushed a piece of silvery blonde hair from her forehead, but the wind just brought it back again. She sighed. She didn't really want to be here. Azkaban, the wizard prison, was not a nice place to be, even on the best of days. Straightening her black coat, she walked towards the gates. When she came to the entrance, the wizards waved their wands and the gates swung open. They must have been told she was coming. Narcissa scowled inwardly. How many others knew of her misfortune? Probably all the wizarding community!

It was no secret that her husband, Lucius, had been sent to Azkaban for the crime of being a Death Eater. He had been given life. At the time Narcissa couldn't believe it, she refused to believe it. She couldn't believe that the man she had spent most of her life with wouldn't be there anymore. She couldn't believe that she was having to raise the child they had created on her own. She couldn't believe that it was really happening. Only when she returned from the ministry alone, did she finally begin to accept the truth. And she didn't like it.

Narcissa had spent many sleepless nights lying on his side of the bed, trying in vain to wake up from what had to be a nightmare. She had cried silently, watching the sun, which had rose despite her misery. She had remembered, with a pang of anguish, that his eyes were the same colour as the light blue sky.

None of this emotion showed, as Narcissa entered Azkaban. Her face was a blank slate, an unreadable page that displayed no feeling. Her grey eyes were cold, but they betrayed nothing. She had hidden everything she felt, in a place that she was gradually forgetting how to get to. The neutral, slightly empty expression was becoming a permanent feature.

Her face didn't change when she walked into the prison, not even when the cold blast from the Dementors reached her. They hovered in mid air, their great, black cloaks billowing around them. As Narcissa went past, one drifted forward and began to follow her. While she walked with her escort, she began to remember things. Horrible things. The day her sister, Andromeda, left to marry a muggle born. The day her other sister, Bellatrix, got carted off to Azkaban. The day she learnt her son, Draco, had been given the task of killing Albus Dumbledore. The day her husband went to jail. The image that had haunted her for the past few months swam before her eyes. She remembered the look on his face, as he heard his sentence. The sound of his voice, as he whispered goodbye. The weight of her heart, as she watched him leave. And it hurt, but her face remained set.

The dementor left her side and Narcissa continued down the corridor by herself. Through cell doors, she saw people. All of them looked dilapidated, thin, like empty shells. Narcissa turned away.

The corridor turned into a deserted tube of stone. The sounds of her footsteps echoed off the walls. They were eerie and distant, but then again, so was Narcissa Malfoy. She came to a metal door, guarded by a dementor and a tough looking security wizard.

"Mrs Malfoy." The guard said.

Narcissa showed no sign that she had heard him. Instead she turned to stare at the dementor, her eyes glassy. The security wizard waved a hand and the dementor floated away.

"Now," the guard continued, "Prisoner 130008-"

"He has a name." Narcissa interrupted, her voice flat but dangerously low.

The guard sighed.

"Your husband, Mr Malfoy, is shackled and the room you are about to enter is protected by some of the most powerful magic there is, so I would advise you not to try anything, magic or otherwise. I will need to search you again, even though your wand has been confiscated on arrival. You will have one hour and then I will ask you to leave. Do you understand, Mrs Malfoy?"

She inclined her head in his direction and then turned to look at the door, with a stare so intense it was as if she was trying burn it down with her eyes. The guard ran his wand over her and nodded.

"Everything seems satisfactory."

He waved his wand over the door and several locks clicked. The door swung open and Narcissa took a step forward, barely breathing.

Lucius Malfoy sat, chained to a chair, in the middle of the room. He looked tired and old, Azkaban was obviously getting to him. His once silky, blonde hair was greasy and matted. His eyes, once the clearest blue, were blood shot. He was thin, very thin and his face was being to look almost skeletal. As Narcissa saw him, a flicker of pain pulsed through her eyes. But then it was gone and she was the emotionless slate once more.

"Narcissa." Lucius whispered, his voice low and raspy.

Narcissa waited for the door to be closed, then she went and sat down in a chair opposite. She didn't meet his eyes and she said nothing.

"Cissa," Lucius said, with a hint of desperation in his voice, "Cissa, please! Speak to me. I know you blame me and you probably hate me, as you should, but please!"

He sighed and ran his unshackled hand through his hair.

"I can't take this silence."

Narcissa continued to look at the floor, but she put her hand on the table that sat between them. Lucius seized it, her soft skin the first human contact he had had in months.

"I don't hate you." she said simply, though her tone was unconvincing.

The pair sat in silence for sometime. Lucius kept looking up, as if he was going to say something, but then he changed his mind and resumed his stare at the table. Narcissa's eyes hadn't moved from the floor.

"God it's awful in here." Lucius said finally. "The dementors come past everyday, just to see if I'm broken yet. I'm not broken though."

He looked at his wife, his eyes sad.

"But I'm breaking. Slowly, I'm being to wonder if fighting is worth it. Maybe it would just be easier for everybody if I let them take me."

Narcissa raised a hand and brought it down hard across his face. Lucius yelped and clutched at his cheek, which was reddening quickly. Narcissa breathed quickly and heavily, her eyes wide and frightened. The wall of calm, collected indifference that she had built up, came crashing down, echoing her loneliness and insecurity across the room.

"Don't you leave me, Lucius Malfoy!" she pleaded, "Don't you _dare _leave me!"

She collapsed on the table, her head in her arms, her shoulders shaking.

Lucius blinked back tears. Taking his hand, he placed it on her head and stroked her beautiful blonde hair.

"I won't leave you, Darling," he whispered, "I promise I won't. Someday I'll get out of here, but right now we just have to wait."

Narcissa looked up and placed her hand on the cheek she had slapped. Leaning across the table, she softly brushed her lips against his.

"Thank you." she said.

The security wizard came and ushered Narcissa out of the room a few minutes later. She didn't want to leave. She didn't want to go back to that empty house. She didn't want to leave him here, in fact she might have stayed if that had been an opinion.

"Narcissa!" Lucius called after her.

She turned back to face him, her light grey eyes meeting his properly for the first time.

"Wait for me." he said.

And as the door closed, with tears in her eyes, Narcissa called back,

"Forever."


End file.
